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Celebrating Dr. Clarence B. Jones
Dr. Clarence B. Jones, Founding Director Emeritus of the Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice, continues to be recognized for his lifelong commitment to civil rights and social justice.
In 2024, recognizing the contribution of Dr. Clarence B. Jones to the progress of freedom and justice in the U.S., President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Later that month, on the field at Giants Stadium, Dr. Jones threw the first pitch for the Black Heritage Night celebration, accompanied by Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.
After inviting him to the White House, President Barack Obama presented Dr. Jones with the 2021 American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award. “When I was a young lawyer looking to make a difference, Dr. Jones was the ultimate inspiration,” Obama said. “Like Dr. Jones, let’s do our part to leave the world more equal and more just.”
In November 2022, INSJ convened a national celebration honoring INSJ Founding Director Emeritus Dr. Clarence B. Jones. More than 1,300 people gathered at St. Ignatius Church on the USF campus for an extraordinary evening of rousing oratory and deep emotion. Founder of the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson spoke about the need to remain proximate to people suffering from the injustice of mass incarceration in America, and the need to reject “the politics of fear and anger” to forge a society embracing our shared humanity.
Passion for Justice
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